Thread: The Famous/Infamous Norton 4/8 "JaNorton 2012"

Another flawless smooth Norton shave!

Honing regimen for todays shave: Pretty much like Glens latest Norton video.
Prep:
Killed the edge on the scuttle, confirm with a TNT.
apply tape
Razor is the 13/16 Globusmen
4K
Circles with slurry, around 30 with firm pressure
Then another round of circles(20) with medium pressure.
5 reg strokes
5 x-strokes
5 reg strokes
TNT, bevel ready. Pops hair all along the edge
5 "finishing" strokes
Bevel ready in literally 2 minutes!

8K

5 reg strokes
5 x-strokes

Pyramid:

4k: 5 strokes
8k: 10 strokes
4k: 3 strokes
8k: 10 strokes

Finishing 8k:

Change tape
Clean off hone
Wipe off excess water and "20 laps to dry"

Stropping:

Illinois #827
80 passes on linen
190 on leather



By blix72 at 2012-01-09

Surprisingly I got my very first self honed close shave last night after following Lynn's circle method, and then the pyramid of 4K/8K. I was really happy with the results of the shave as in after 3 passes I was close to BBS in most areas except my neck. The actual feel of the razor though still tugged a bit and parts of the third pass were approaching painful. (oddly the thayers splash down didnt sting like i expected it to.) My question is this, would others here in order to get smoother results take both razors back to the 8k and strop more all at once, or would taking the razor to the 8k for a few laps before each shave progressively sharpen and smooth it out a little?


**as a side note this thread and experiment influenced me to pick up a red imp and a EDACO which hopefully will be here in the next few days, so i can have a broader range of razor blade types and sizes to experience honing with.

So, 9 nine days in, I'm pretty happy with how this little experiment is going.
This far I've done both razors three times, not because it was needed, but because I wanted to try my darndest to get as much experience from the event as I possibly could.
It is a good thing I have a head to shave in addition to my face every day

I have tried to learn and adopt quite a bit of the various methods you all have described in this thread.
So, thanks everyone for participating

Today I've re-done the edges from scratch again, dulling them on the edge of the stones before starting.
I started out with setting the bevel using a mix of circles first, and then x-strokes. Slightly rolling on one of them due to the geometry of the razor.
Quite some pressure was used during this stage.
I seem to rely on feedback from the hones, the feel of how it glides over the hones and watching the water, so I'm not able to give an accurate count on number of laps, but I would guess around 40-60 circles and 40 x-strokes did the trick.
After this, the razor felt right on the two tests I have calibrated for my use. I always use the TPT and arm-hair test at this or any other stage in the honing. The arm-hair test was just slightly above skin level. Later on in the honing, the edge gets raised a fair bit away from skin level when popping them hairs off.

Then I continued on the 4K with about the same, maybe slightly less, laps of x-strokes using a more moderate pressure, easing up a bit as I felt it was getting close to max on that stage.
Once I felt it was where I wanted it, I did about 20 x-strokes to finish that stage using no pressure at all.

So, on to the 8K.
It is quite amazing to see how little work it takes on this stone, it really doesn't take much to get it from a 4K to a 8K bevel.
What I did today was to use a little bit of pressure for about 30 x-strokes, then it was absolutely no pressure for about 25 more.

I stropped both on linen (60), intermediate (40) and fine grained leather (60)

Both razors performed admirably, and in my book, they were both shave ready.
Sure, I cannot claim that they are on par with the razors I have that where finished on higher levels of finisher, but truth be told, the difference ain't big. At all.

And the story continues....

Yup

Tough one today with my TI Le Canadien, honed using circles then a pyramid. I think I need to go back down to the 4k because it was pulling pretty nasty. I believe I placed too much confidence in my ability to set the bevel with the slurry on the 4k, which might have been because I wasn't concentrating on detail. Still, the good thing is that the stones are right here and there's no lack of helpful information!

Lucky for me I have a lot of possible technques in this thread for what to try.

Full writeup here: http://straightrazorpalace.com/begin...tml#post903823

I would give a 1-3,1-5 pyramid a quick try and then check results. If still not there try 3-5 on just the 8K. No pressure X stroke on both and then to the strop before testing. both these are good to try if you are close, no matter what method you chose to get there.

Have fun.

Originally Posted by georgephillips

Surprisingly I got my very first self honed close shave last night after following Lynn's circle method, and then the pyramid of 4K/8K. I was really happy with the results of the shave as in after 3 passes I was close to BBS in most areas except my neck. The actual feel of the razor though still tugged a bit and parts of the third pass were approaching painful. (oddly the thayers splash down didnt sting like i expected it to.) My question is this, would others here in order to get smoother results take both razors back to the 8k and strop more all at once, or would taking the razor to the 8k for a few laps before each shave progressively sharpen and smooth it out a little?


**as a side note this thread and experiment influenced me to pick up a red imp and a EDACO which hopefully will be here in the next few days, so i can have a broader range of razor blade types and sizes to experience honing with.

6th Shave

Razor : ~11/16" Dubl Duck SatinEdge - full hollow

Method :

For the first honing, I did 10 sweeping X-strokes on the N4k with a "little" bit of pressure, not much.

I then went to the N8k with just water. Using a little pressure, I did 10 sweeping X-strokes again, and did 10 more sweeping X-strokes with the OPPOSITE hand. I rinsed the hone and razor again, and did 10 X-strokes with my left-hand, then 10 X-strokes with my right hand with JUST the weight of the blade...no pressure. I then did 3 sweeping X-strokes with the LEFT, then 3 with the right, followed by 1 sweeping X-stroke (LEFT), and then 1 RIGHT. And then did the 1 sweeping X-stroke with each hand again (LEFT then RIGHT.)

I then stropped 40x on my homemade denim cloth strop, followed by 40x on my homemade cowhide leather strop.

Shave : I did my usual 2 pass shave (WTG, XTG), following the same prep procedures I always do. I think I've hit my limit really. There was no discomfort when applying witch hazel after my shave as I always do. This shave was just as good as shave #5 with my W&B. That full hollow edge just wiped away the hair. I don't think there's any point in me trying again with this razor...I know we were gonna stick with 2 razors for JaNorton, but if it's ok, I am going to try the same procedure on a few of my other razors to see if they will hone up just as well. I'm starting to believe there may be something to switching hands and getting those cross-hatching marks on the edge. If anyone would like to try one normal, then try that procedure, to check it out that would be cool! Prove I'm not just crazy! LOL

*EDIT* And just so you guys know for reference, my facial hair is REALLY coarse, so it takes a pretty darn good edge to give me a nice close, comfortable shave.

And on a side note...DARN you Glen! Now if I don't play with my Coti's to get a better edge, I'm gonna be stuck honing on Nortons! AKK!

Ok, went back to the hones with my TI Le Canadien & W&B 5/8 Bow Razor today.

Le Canadien
I started with a moderate slurry, 20 circles up and 20 back, moderate pressure. Then 5 X strokes, moderate pressure. It passed TNT so I gave it 5 more moderate X-strokes, but it wasn't doing a very good job on arm hair, so I rinsed the stone, raised a bit of a lighter slurry, refreshed the tape, then did another 20 up, 20 down with moderate pressure. Now it was starting to get there. Next step were about 10 X light pressure strokes with light slurry on the 4k. I refreshed the tape on the spine at this point in time. It was starting to dial in, so I rinsed the stone, did another 10 X strokes with just water, no pressure on 4k. Then I did another 10 X Strokes with no pressure and moved to a pyramid:

25/5 20/5 15/5 10/5 7/5 5/5 5/7 3/10 1/10

Now it was popping arm hair with ease, so I moved to the 8k for finishing. With fresh tape, I did 10 no pressure X strokes with water, then rinsed the stone again, wiped away the water with my finger and did 10 slow X strokes with the damp stone. Stropping is SRD Latigo 50/100 then 100 on my episaacs 'roo.

W&B 5/8 Bow

Pretty much the same routine as above, with similar results, though I needed less circles.

The shave test tonight was with the W&B, which didn't come through with flying colours. That said, it was better than last time, so I think, with a conservative pyramid, I might be able to bring it in line. More stone action tomorrow!

Full writeup of tonight's shave is up here: http://straightrazorpalace.com/begin...tml#post904966

These are some thoughts that i am having about pyramid honing. I wouldn't have time to prove these in January and maybe they have been thought of before so feel free to tell me I am wrong etc.

Here is an example of a process used. 25/5 20/5 15/5 10/5 7/5 5/5 5/7 3/10 1/10 and then go on to the 8k. People aren't testing in between the pattern like I understand they should. I think if the edge tests good at 5/5 then go on to the 8k to finish.

I am thinking more of the fellow honing his own and trying to sneak up on the edge. If it is close, I submit to do the second half of the pyramid. For example a 5/10 test and if you think it is good do your 20 damp on the 8k. [Or whatever trips your trigger!] Strop and shave the next morning. If it just isn't there yet do a 3/10, test and do 20 damp. Closer yet do 1/10 and test, then 20 damp. Strop and shave the next morning.

Most of us are not professionals. We are learning and are playing with our own tools. It might take you 2 weeks to dial it in but the nest time it will be shorter and we are not shipping out to someone else " the perfect edge."

Tim

Okay, so I've been using my Everkeen, and Carbomatic, for a week or so now, with one trip back to the 8K giving both 10 very light that strokes with just water, and then strapping 25 on the linen, and 50 on the leather, and so far so good I could live with this if I had to and be happy. The one question I have is the pyramid, even though I have used it and it works, I'm not sure I know why, as now I use each stone until I feel I have gotten the most out of it, and then move on to the next level and this seems to be working very well for me. If you are on the 8K, what good does it do the edge to bring it back to the 4K? As was said earlier in this post, as soon as you use the 4K you lose the edge, so why doesn't that apply when using the pyramid? As I've said when I first started out I did use the standard pyramid as I found it on the wiki, and it works very well but I really don't know why. Can anyone explain this?
Thank you
Griz